Ashes
by Dragon Dagger
Summary: One woman seeks freedom from the hellish mess one ronin has made of her emotions. What difference will one letter make?


"Just like a wildfire. You▓re runnin all over town." -Ashes By Now

She was in her room alone. She wasn▓t alone the night before and she knew it. Yet as she woke up she was completely alone.

As she reached over to touch the face of the man that had touched her so deeply and lit her soul on fire the night before she was not surprised. He was gone and she again must pretend that nothing was wrong.

She knew what happened the night before. He came to pick her up for their date and as he took her out to dinner and then to a play he kept dropping hints of a much more pleasurable time to be had later on in the evening.

Such a time was had as he gently and deftly brought her to peak again and again as he let his hands wander over his setting her sensitive skin on fire with his skilled touch. He was a younger man than her, but she knew that he was so much more mature than some of the men she had met in her past and she found herself wondering who it was that claimed him after she had fallen asleep the night before.

She stretched and rose for the day feeling bad and so good at the same time. Again he had burned her with his ways and she had to accept the fact that he just could not settle on one woman.

He had attracted the attentions of so many of them with his athletic prowess and wild good looks. Those eyes never failed to capture the attentions of many women when he stepped into a room and his medium length hair was more than enough to drive several women wild. The fact that he seemed like he would not be a very cultured young man was a faГade as he proved to many that his education had not been lacking in any area. Skilled in the fighting and gentlemanly arts he was also a skilled lover and bedmate.

The last fact only a few women knew personally but many women outside of that select circle aspired to know. She sighed as she dressed a slight blush appearing on her face as she remembered the passion and sensuality he projected the night before as they coupled time and again.

Getting ready for work that day she was driving to work as she always did knowing that the other women in the office would know by her silence that he had been with her again. He was careful about who he was with. Never random he always got to know them and treated the women he partnered with in a manner of respect and grace.

She got to work and noted that the blush had lessened but her face still felt hot. She fanned herself quickly and then walked into the office, nodding hello to her secretary as she always did. She wasn▓t fooling anyone though; she knew that once her office door was shut the calls and gossip would begin.

It wasn▓t the fact that others knew. It was the fact that she was ready to try and settle down with her life and she knew that there was a man that she loved out there. Several months before she found out that he had cheated her as well as many other women. She had run into one of the other woman during one of her client▓s meetings. She was talking with her secretary about the night before and what had happened.

She hadn▓t meant to listen in on her client▓s conversation, but the way she described his actions and how he treated her sounded familiar. Listening carefully she found that she did indeed know the man when she spoke his name. Feeling like she had been caught in a blaze of emotion she walked into the woman▓s restroom to regain her composure.

So that was what he did on the evenings he could not be with her. He was out with other women and that he had burned them as well she had to wonder how many other women knew about his real habits. Since then she had tried everything she could to get him to settle down with her and after last night she wondered if it was even possible.

Still, she couldn▓t get the sound of his husky voice or the touch of his beautiful silky smooth skin out of her mind. He always talked around her objections to see her. His wild eyes entranced her as always as he looked deep into her own setting her soul on fire with that slowly smoldering gaze. Almost like he has a flaming soul of his own he never failed to set the ladies he touched with his fire off into their own world of thoughts and doubts.

---

Several months later

---

Try as she might she would not get that man out of her mind. It was as if he had become a part of her soul somehow and now the thoughts of being away from him to lead her own life were sounding better. She could not get the other night out of her mind as she again went through the motions of dealing with the night before.

Today was different however as she drove into town she was listening to the radio and heard a song that touched her deeply. Knowing that it was exactly how she felt she wrote down the name of the song and the artist and promised herself to find a way to thank the woman for writing the song.

As she got to work she found a copy of the very song on a cassette that had been left for her. The letter that was enclosed with it touched her deeply. She wasn▓t alone and the woman that wanted to help her knew that this would help.

{{Charay,

I know he hurt you and that you wonder if you can ever be free of the hold he seems to have on your soul. He tells me everything and I want to help you be free again to lead your life with no guilty feelings over what he did to you. As a player; he has used his good looks and wiles to bed many women since I came to know him. Please take this tape as a gift and may it help you to write or tell him what you need to say to be free again.}}

The letter was signed simply Mia. Smiling softly she wrote the name down to write the woman a letter of thanks as she again listened to the song. She indeed wanted to be free of the magical hold he seemed to have on her. Now was the perfect chance as she listened to the introduction of the song as it played out.

This mornin is Monday Where are you now?  
Teasin my memory Tellin me how To lay low when I don't want to

Your love is elusive This I know now It's makin me crazy Leavin me out in the open When I don't want to

Baby, I can't go through this again I don't need to go down more than I've already been Just like a wildfire, you're runnin all over town As much as you've burned me baby, I should be ashes by now

The moments of pleasure Never do last They're gone like a suitcase Full of your past Long gone And in a hurry

Baby, I can't go through this again I don't need to go down more than I've already been Just like a wildfire, you're runnin all over town As much as you've burned me baby, I should be ashes by now

You're runnin all over town As much as you burned me baby, I should be ashes by now

Just like a wildfire, you're runnin all over town As much as you've burned me baby, I should be ashes by now As much as you've burned me baby, I should be ashes by now

(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ashes by now)  
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ashes by now)  
As much as you've burned me baby, I should be ashes by now.

Satisfied with how she was feeling she started up her computer and started typing the letter she wanted to write for so long now.

{{Ryo,

You have burned me one to many times now. I can▓t do this anymore. Leave me alone and lead your life as you will. I need my life to be my own instead of living for you. I can▓t do that now and I hope you understand.

Take care and hopefully we will meet again in another lifetime.

Goodbye.

Charay}}

Printing the letter and addressing the envelope she sent the letter off, her mind now clear for once of the man that had burned in her soul for so long. Her life was hers again and it was thanks to the kindness of one woman she never knew but was kind enough to help set her heart free.

(Disclaimer: Song, lyrics from Ashes By Now and characters from Ronin Warriors are not mine. I make no money from writing these fics and only do so for my own enjoyment.) 


End file.
